Belly Tank info needed

I want to build my son a small tank so he has something to drive around at the salt flats and swapmeets. Does anyone know what i should be looking for size and all that stuff i would like to find one close to the size or smaller then the yellow Burke tank and that doesnt cost a small fortune any info would be greatly appreciated thanks.....

 

Go to the Rod 'n Race Fiberglass web site. They have 3 different tank molds.
www.rodnrace.com

 

I would rather try to find something in steel someone has to know of somethen

 

We spoted a large number of tanks at a military surplus place just off I-84 north of SLC some years ago. I can't recall exactly, but I believe it was in the Ogdon area. At the time they were $350 each.

 

I just drove by that place saturday. They had some long small diameter tanks.

 

they are F-16 tanks and there are about 18 or 20 feet long and aluminum if they were steel then maybe i could modify and just use the ends i guess

 

To my knowledge there is no such thing as a tank made of steel for use
on aircraft, little too heavy.

 

good luck man

 

Wrong,Mine is steel

 

Maybe half correct. I have seen a lot of steel tanks, but they have always been stamped USAF and not USAAF. I don't think they made any out of steel for WWII and earlier planes.
Depending on how big your sun is and what you plan on powering it with, I have seen people make little strollers and pedal cars out of the dummy bombs they used for practice.

 

I stand corrected, lots of tanks made of steel AND PAPER, at least for
the P-47. It was plastic impregnated paper made for one way use to
combat and then discarded, leaving nothing for the enemy to salvage
and re-use. Nice.

 

Milkweed,
If you are looking for something small for your son, why don't you just make one. The buck would be very simple and I would probably start with 4 pieces of 20 or 22 gage steel. A hammer, shot bag and maybe a stretcher/shrinker and you can do it. get Ron Covel's "working with steel" CD and have at it. Believe me it is not that hard and if you do it your self you really have something to be proud of!!

Rex

 

they were disposable and they dropped them before they did their business, so weight for the most part wasnt an issue

 

My father in-law has one that is from WWII that is steel.

 

Milkweed,
I have a couple different steel ww2 tanks I could sell ya. You ever to LA ?

 

I've got a steel one that is 10' long by 26" diameter. Let me know if you want it and I will sell it to ya, that is if you don't get one of Bobby G's. He is the tank mogle after all.

 

A buddy in Fresno has one to sell, don't know how much.
Call Bryan 559-803-2006

 

Smith and edwards is the name of the place in Ogden. I was there a week ago, and they do have those dummy bombs which are about four feet long. They have decent proportions and are made of heavy steel. My neighbor used to have 3 or 4 and he would hang them from his horse walker (used for horse exercise) and let use ride in them. I might have a pic of what they look like. I'll look.

 

I have an actuall old Carnival ride Belly tank that was made after the war. old surplus went to good use. The ride used to swing around a center pole. kinda like the first rockets at disneyland but swing on chains. The tank is 6 ft and the cockpit was all trimmed out with copper and rivets. two seats for small children only... I was going to do the same thing and turn it into a go kart for crusin the salt but I got to much crap to do and build still...

 

That sounds cool!

 

Remember to "cruise the salt flats" you MUST have a drivers license !

 

Here's one, likely from a P-51. PM if you need it. About 9' long and a couple feet wide. There's enough room for a small motor and one driver. I also have another that was converted into a 3-wheeled car in the 50's.

or if you want a small aluminum tank, you'll have to talk "Slim" out of it......



I can also supply a P-38, Bank letter of credit required though....



Dave

 

Have this one. Don't know why I bought it. Too kool to pass up. You can have it for marked price if you can figure a way to pick it up.

 

Say... that give me an idea... Now where can I find a cheap pedal car?

 

here is one i just got last winter

 

Maybe this is hi-jacking this thread, but how do you split a belly tank? Mine is aluminum with the outside flange seam. Do most just cut along that seam? What about the internal formers?

 

Thanks for all the info i have a couple leads and hopefully will get something together before speedweek if i can get to calli to pick one up

 

36tbird; can you post a pic of your tank?......Ol Deuce

 

I've got a kiddy car made from solid wood. It is 4' wide and 6' long, it is a 64 Chevy conv. it was on a carnaval ride in Mexico. It still has the steel hook ups for the ride.--TV

 

Ol Deuce, sorry it took me so long to get back to this thread and see your request. I'm glad that you asked me to take a pic so that I can start keeping a record of the project. It will be a long, long time (hopefully) because it will be a "bucket list" sort of program to build a nostalgic lakester. My tank is 14 1/2 feet long by 30 inches wide. A friend had it and donated it to my project. This last week another friend donated a V-8 60 and another is donating 4 bent spoke Kelsey Hayes wires, just for it to look neat but not for a run, if this program ever makes it that far. I bought a TIG last year and have been learning how to use it and I just got a Speedway tubing bender. Things are coming together, but I have a lot of other car projects to finish before starting this. So, back to my question, how do you open these things up? Thanks, Lou